‘Pandemic has never got out of control in Turkey’

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Health Minister Fahrettin Koca spoke at the opening ceremony of Turkic Council's Health Scientific Board Meeting in İstanbul today (October 30).

Referring to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Health Minister Koca said, "We are trying to get used to a new life, a new normal. From time to time, our country also experienced increases in the number of its cases, as is the case in all parts of the world. But this increase has never got out of our control at any time of the pandemic."

'Designate 2021 as the Year of Health Workers'

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), honoring the efforts of medical workers against the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Minister Koca also called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to designate 2021 as the international year of healthcare professionals.

"In order to crown the sacrifices of our healthcare professionals, we voiced our proposal to make 2021 the Year of Health Workers worldwide through diplomatic channels to the World Health Organization," Koca said. Citing the rising coronavirus statistics across the world, Koca said such surges have remained under control in Turkey since the beginning of the pandemic.

Current situation in Turkey and the world

As of yesterday (October 29), Turkey had registered a total of 10,099 deaths due to COVID-19, while over 320,762 people have recovered. Currently, there are more than 370,832 confirmed patients in the country.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.18 million lives in 190 countries and regions since last December. The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries. Over 45 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 30.3 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

CLICK - Turkey reports over 2,300 new COVID-19 'patients' in a day

(AS/SD)